In the medical and dental fields, it is desirable to provide relative quick sterilizing of surgical instruments and the like. Many systems commonly use steam to provide this requisite sterilization. Some of these systems, however, require large spaces and are cumbersome to transport.
To address this issue, portable or “table-top” systems, such as one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,893, have been developed, which may include a portable holding device configured to receive a removable sealable pressure vessel. Steam is then injected by other portions of the device and into the pressure vessel to carry out the sterilization of instruments held by the vessel. There are drawbacks, however, present in devices of this type.
For example, disposing of recently condensed wastewater may require handling a container that is uncomfortably hot and difficult to transport. Containers conventionally lack a good gripping surface, and any such surface is typically hot to the touch, thereby inconveniencing a user transporting the container to a waste sink or the like. Moreover, disposal of wastewater may require removal of a screw-on type lid of the container. The lid may include a drain line connecting the container to other portions of the device, which may get damaged when the lid is rotated to separate the lid from other parts of the container.
Another drawback of devices of the type described above lies in the potential recontamination of sterilized instruments. More particularly, devices of this type may include a sterilizing cycle requiring partial opening of a pressure chamber at or near the end of the sterilizing cycle. Steam leaving the pressure chamber may tend to accumulate on outside surfaces of the device, which are not sterile, and trickle back into the chamber, thereby creating the potential for recontamination of the sterilized instruments within the chamber.
Yet another drawback of devices of the type described above relates to water reservoirs that may be found in such devices. Water reservoirs hold water to be converted to sterilizing steam, and may include an opening for accessing the interior thereof. Overfilling of water in the reservoir may occur, resulting in the corresponding overflow uncontrollably dispersing about surfaces of the device. Such dispersion may cause water to contact electrical components or the like, which may be damaged as a result.
There is therefore a need for a portable steam sterilizing device capable of sterilizing medical instruments and that includes an easily transportable wastewater container is therefore desirable.
Moreover, a portable steam sterilizing device that prevents recontamination of the sterilized instruments by condensed steam built-up on outer surfaces of the device is similarly desirable.
Lastly, a portable steam sterilizing device that prevents the uncontrollable dispersion of overflow water from a water reservoir is also desirable.